Dignity Memorial(R) Network and Project Rebirth Announce Partnership to Promote Resilience

HOUSTON, TX and NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Aug 30, 2011) - On the cusp of the 10^th anniversary of 9/11, the Dignity Memorial network and Project Rebirth today announced a collaboration to help individuals and communities heal in the aftermath of loss and to promote resiliency-building. The partnership will advance the innovative educational use of "REBIRTH," an award-winning documentary film about 9/11, to bring about recovery and resilience from grief, loss and trauma. This follows in the footsteps of the Dignity Memorial network's experience with grief management.

The story of REBIRTH follows the transformation of five people, whose lives were forever altered on Sept. 11, 2001, over the course of 10 years. The film simultaneously tracks, via unprecedented multi-camera time lapse photography, the evolution of the space where the Twin Towers once rose over Lower Manhattan.

"Project Rebirth's mission to advance educational initiatives committed to resilience building in the face of grief is a mutual imperative that the Dignity Memorial network shares," said Phil Jacobs, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, Service Corporation International (SCI), North America's leading provider of deathcare products and services. "The unique resource of Project Rebirth, combined with the grief expertise and strong community roots of Dignity Memorial, forms a powerful collaboration to affect resilience."

"We're very pleased about our partnership with Dignity Memorial network, which closely aligns with Project Rebirth's social service mission to improve upon services, therapies and research focused on disaster and large scale trauma response," said Caitlin Olson, Executive Director, Project Rebirth.

Partners in Community Grief and Resiliency Training

The centerpiece of the partnership's programmatic efforts will be a workshop available throughout the Dignity Memorial network for professionals (mental health, health care, hospice, social workers and clergy) and community leaders/members in need of information and strategies for assisting citizens cope with loss, traumatic loss and healing in the aftermath of a disaster. Hosted by Dignity Memorial providers in communities across the country, the workshops will be led by Project Rebirth's Adviser for Education and Research Donna Gaffney, DNSc, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN.

The innovative Community Grief and Resiliency Training Workshops will use a screening of the REBIRTH film as an educational and communication tool to address traumatic loss.

"By drawing on the real survivor stories of an actual traumatic community event, we create an intimate and highly innovative educational experience, which transcends traditional methods and engages participants," said Dr. Gaffney. "At the completion of the workshop, participants will be able to recognize how individuals respond to loss over time, and discuss communication, support and intervention strategies for individuals, families and communities in times of crisis."

As part of the partnership, Dignity Memorial will sponsor film screenings of REBIRTH in major markets, including Houston (September 9), Seattle (September 10 and 11) and Portland, Oregon (September 13). For more information about Dignity Memorial's special events and tributes throughout its North American network, visit www.dignitymemorial.com/911, which also features a 9/11 guestbook.

About the Dignity Memorial network

The Dignity Memorial network of more than 1,600 funeral, cremation and cemetery service providers is North America's most trusted resource for funeral and memorialization services. Dignity Memorial providers offer an unmatched combination of products and locations serving families with care, integrity, respect and service excellence. For more information, visit www.DignityMemorial.com.

About Project Rebirth

Project Rebirth is the nonprofit organization stemming from the feature-length documentary Rebirth. The film, Rebirth, records the strength of the human spirit coping with disaster and the ongoing redevelopment of the World Trade Center site. Project Rebirth serves as a vehicle to promote the unique preparedness needs of first responders as the frontline of disaster recovery. The mission of Project Rebirth is to chronicle living history and honor 9/11 victims and first responders, and to advance educational initiatives committed to pre-trauma resiliency building for first responders.